Hurricane Ophelia Hits Ireland

Hurricane Ophelia is bearing down on Ireland as the rare eastern Atlantic storm targeted parts of Europe on Monday. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles an hour.

The hurricane, which has been downgraded, has caused three deaths, according to Reuters. One woman was killed by a falling tree while she was in her car and a man was killed trying to clear a fallen tree with a chainsaw. AFP reported that another man was killed while driving in his car.

Met Eideann, the Irish weather service, warned people to stay in inside during the storm. Schools across Ireland are closed. More than 230,000 homes and businesses are without electricity and more than 100 flights have been cancelled, Reuters reported.

“Very stormy, with violent and damaging winds, most severe in exposed hilly and coastal areas,” according the the weather service’s latest advisory. “The worst of the winds, which have been over Munster and south Leinster this morning, will quickly extend to the rest of the country this afternoon. Spells of heavy rain and thunderstorms in places also and storm surges along some coasts, leading to flooding.”